Sights in West Yorkshire
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Salt's Mill
Saltaire, a Victorian-era landmark and UNESCO World Heritage site, was an industrial village purpose-built in 1851 by philanthropic wool baron and teetotaller Titus Salt. The village's factory is now Salts Mill, a splendidly bright and airy cathedral-like building where the main draw is a permanent exhibition of work by Bradford-born artist David Hockney.
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Brontë Parsonage Museum
Set in a pretty garden overlooking the church and graveyard, the house where the Brontë family lived from 1820 till 1861 is now a museum. The rooms are meticulously furnished and decorated exactly as they were in the Brontë era, with many personal possessions on display. There's also a neat and informative exhibition, which includes the fascinating miniature books the Brontës wrote as children.
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Royal Armouries
Leeds' most interesting museum is undoubtedly the Royal Armouries, beside the snazzy Clarence Dock residential development. It was originally built to house the armour and weapons from the Tower of London but was subsequently expanded to cover 3000-years'-worth of fighting and self-defence. It all sounds a bit macho, but the exhibits are as varied as they are fascinating: films, live-action demonstrations and hands-on technology can awaken interests you never thought you had, from jousting to Indian elephant armour – we dare you not to learn something! To get here, walk east along the river from Centenary Footbridge (10 minutes), or take bus 28 from Albion St.
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City Art Gallery
If you're starved of a bit of high culture, get yourself to the City Art Gallery as soon as possible. It is packed with a host of 19th- and 20th-century British heavyweights - Turner, Constable, Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis et al - along with more recent arrivals like Antony Gormley, sculptor of the Angel of the North. Pride of place, however, goes to the outstanding genius of Henry Moore (1898-1986), who graduated from the Leeds School of Art.
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National Media Museum
Five fab, exhibit-packed floors in Bradford's top attraction tell the story of photography, film, television, radio and the web from 19th-century cameras and early animation to digital technology and the psychology of advertising. There's lots of hands-on stuff too: you can film yourself in a bedroom scene or play at being a TV newsreader. The IMAX screen shows the usual in-your-face nature films and space documentaries; regular films are also screened.
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Leeds Industrial Museum
One of the world's largest textile mills has been transformed into the Leeds Industrial Museum, telling the story of Leeds' industrial past, both glorious and ignominious. The city became rich off the sheep's back, but at some cost in human terms – working conditions were, well, Dickensian. As well as a selection of working machinery, there's a particularly informative display on how cloth is made. Take bus 5 from the train station to get here.
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Haworth Parish Church
Your first stop should be Haworth Parish Church, a lovely old place of worship built in the late 19th century on the site of the older church that the Brontë sisters knew, which was demolished in 1879. In the surrounding churchyard, gravestones are covered in moss or thrust to one side by gnarled tree roots, giving the place a tremendous feeling of age.
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SDC Colour Museum
The oft-overlooked SDC Colour Museum, run by the Society of Dyers and Colourists, is a little gem, just a 10-minute walk from the centre. It tells the story of Bradford's wool-dying trade, and has a fascinating section on how our eyes perceive colour, including a display contrasting the visual sense of different species (what's blue to you isn't blue to Fido).
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Abbey House Museum
Across the road from Kirkstall Abbey, the Abbey House Museum, once the Great Gate House to the abbey, contains meticulously reconstructed shops and houses recalling Victorian Leeds. The impressive attention to detail is lit by flickering candlelike light. Children will enjoy it, and there are displays giving an interesting insight into monastic life as well.
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Bradford Industrial Museum
Bradford Industrial Museum, 3 miles out of the centre, gives a hint of what a Yorkshire textile spinning mill was like at the peak of the Industrial Revolution. Other exhibits include various steam engines (sometimes working), transport from the last 100 years, and a horse-drawn tram to give a quick 'step back in history' round the car park.
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St John's Church
Tucked away off northern Briggate in the centre of Leeds is St John's Church, a one-off masterpiece of 17th-century design. It's decked out with elaborate box-pews and a spectacular screen resplendent with huge carvings of the arms of James I and of Charles I as Prince of Wales.
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Kirkstall Abbey
Leeds' most impressive medieval structure is the beautiful Kirkstall Abbey, founded in 1152 by Cistercian monks from Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, and one of the best-preserved medieval abbeys in Britain. Across the road, the Abbey House Museum once the Great Gate House to the abbey, contains meticulously reconstructed shops and houses that evoke Victorian Leeds, and displays that give an interesting insight into monastic life.
The abbey and museum are off the A65, 3 miles northwest of the centre; take bus 33, 33A or 757.
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Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Headingley has been hosting cricket matches since 1890. It is still used for test matches and is the home ground of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Take bus 74 or 75 from Infirmary St.
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Henry Moore Institute
Housed in a converted Victorian warehouse in the city centre, this gallery showcases the work of 20th-century sculptors, but not, despite the name, anything by Henry Moore (1898−1986), who graduated from the Leeds School of Art. To see works by Moore, head to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
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Leeds United Football Club
Loyal fans pack the Elland Rd stadium. Take bus 51, 52 or 54 from Kirkgate Market.
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Gibson Mill
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Leeds Art Gallery
The municipal gallery is packed with 19th- and 20th-century British heavyweights – Turner, Constable, Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis et al – along with contemporary pieces by more recent arrivals such as Antony Gormley, sculptor of the Angel of the North.
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